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Monday, May 13, 2013

In honor of the 20th
anniversary of ‘Menace II Society,’ I proudly present this multipart retrospective.The current chapter is posted below.To read the previous chapter, please click
here.Thank you, and enjoy!

Part 2: Countdown To Armageddon

In laying the groundwork for their crime ridden cautionary
tale, the “Tender Trio” didn’t need to look very far for inspiration.They had only to peer out of their living
room windows, or play their favorite rap albums.By 1991, Los Angeles had become a veritable
powder keg of social unrest.The illegal
drug operation birthed by “Freeway” Ricky Ross and his Nicaraguan connection
had mushroomed into a nationwide epidemic.Throughout the 1980’s, L.A. gangs morphed into heavily armed militias
thanks to the crack trade.A saturated
marketplace soon facilitated their exodus to other areas of the U.S.This was especially true of L.A.’s two
largest Black gangs: The Bloods and the
Crips.Both organizations were born in
the 1970’s, in the wake of the Black power movement.By the early 1990’s, they’d carved up every
square block of South Central L.A. amongst themselves.Battle lines were drawn in accordance with
neighborhood boundaries.Ordinary
civilians became live- in hostages.The
police became just another gang, though one with the backing of city government.

Todd Shaw aka "$ir Too $hort"

This devolution was documented by local rap artists, many of
whom would eventually score major label contracts.As the situation intensified, so did the
nature of their music.In the early to
mid 1980’s, West Coast rappers were largely known for a brand of synthesized,
uptempo dance music called “Electro.”Though popular with partygoers and car stereo enthusiasts, Electro garnered
little respect from Hip-Hop’s east coast pioneers.During that time, a young man from Oakland had
been setting the stage for a drastic change in course.Todd Shaw was heavily influenced by the early
recordings of Harlemite Spoonie G.Spoonie’s
raps emphasized his prowess with the ladies.Shaw developed his own x-rated variant of that style.He preferred funk to the “Disco Breaks” his
east coast predecessors rapped over.He began
selling cassette tapes of homemade songs under the moniker Too $hort.In 1982, he was profoundly inspired by the
powerful social commentary of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five’s “The
Message.”He too would begin to
incorporate such elements into his own songs, but with a twist.Local hustlers had been specially requesting customized
tapes from $hort.These special order
items would immortalize the lifestyles of the dealers that requested them.$hort didn’t realize it, but he’d developed
an early blueprint for something that would change rap music forever.

Brooklyn's own Just-Ice aka the "Hip-Hop Gangster" circa 1987.

By the mid 1980’s, $hort was but one pioneer among many.Down in southern California, L.A. rappers were
slowly outgrowing Electro.Ice-T, Toddy
Tee, King-T, and eventually N.W.A formed the gaseous core of a forthcoming Big-Bang.All had gang ties, at least to some extent.They offered rap personas fashioned after
gangbangers and crack dealers, in addition to crime narratives told form the
first-person perspective.Meanwhile, a
similar evolution was unfolding in the Northeastern United States.In 1985, Philadelphian Schooley D changed the
game with his 1985 single, “P.S.K. What Does It Mean?”The Bronx duo Boogie Down productions
appeared on the cover of their 1987 debut Criminal
Minded brandishing guns.Brooklynite
Just-Ice branded himself the “Hip-Hop Gangster.”His songs offered X-rated tales similar to
those of Too $hort.He extolled the
virtues of the Nation of Gods and Earths (aka The Five Percent Nation), a
religious sect that is often characterized New York street gang.All of these developments eventually brought
forth a new subgenre: Gangsta Rap.However, it was the west coast variant that would come to personify the form
in the public eye.

By the early 1990’s, West Coast Gangsta rap was immensely
popular.Still, its practitioners seemed
to sense something terrible on the horizon.Their suspicions were confirmed by the beating of motorist Rodney King at
the hands of the LAPD.The City of
Angels was coming apart at the seams, and now there was videotaped evidence of
it.Gangsta rappers weren’t rabble
rousers, but prophets.This was the
story that hadn’t yet made it to the silver screen.Black Angelenos of the early 1990’s had a lot
in common with the European immigrants of Prohibition era Chicago.Both were largely working class groups that
had been marginalized by the American mainstream.Both groups also contained a small subset
that saw crime as a viable option.Both
eras had a particular vice that, once deemed illegal, provided the basis for a
thriving underground economy.With such
economies comes extreme violence.It was
fertile thematic ground that had yet to be sown.The “Tender Trio” sought to plant their flag.Tyger Williams began crafting a screenplay
titled Menace II Society.

"Doughboy" (Ice Cube) leaning on the hood of his tricked out impala in a behind-the-scenes photo from Boyz n the Hood.

Montoya Santana
(Edward James Olmos) in American Me.

The impending release of Boyzn the Hood had the trio fearing the
worst.Had some bespectacled USC
graduate beaten them to the punch?One
of the first trailers for Boyz sold it
as a “gang movie.”Something like Colors, but told from the perspective of
Black gangbangers.Reports of violence
at opening weekend screenings seemed to confirm that summation.Yet, for all of its R-Rated trappings (Profanity,
sex, nudity, violence), Boyz was
essentially a tender coming-of-age story. Newly emboldened, the “Tender Trio”
proceeded as planned.In March of 1992,
Tyger Williams found ample inspiration in American
Me, a large scale opus about Chicano gang life.It chronicled the rise of Montoya Santana
(Edward James Olmos) from small-time gang leader to the undisputed boss of La
eMe (The Mexican Mafia).Williams
revised his screenplay, turning out a much darker draft.Edward James Olmos had shown him just how far
down the proverbial rabbit hole a modern gangster film could go.Williams was more than willing to take Black
audiences on a similar journey, but would they accept the challenge?Better yet, would any studio be bold enough
to finance such a vision?

About Me

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Scott Wilson, deep thinker and blogger extraordinaire. I'm also a published author and proud father. Last but certainly not least, I'm a single (IE Available), but I'm definitely looking to change that. My life is an ongoing work in progress, and I'm always looking to improve.